Sjur Obrestad Gabrielsen

In a recent court ruling, the Hålogaland Court of Appeal has held that the expropriation permit and the license for the Øyfjellet wind farm are invalid. The ruling leaves the future of Norway’s largest single wind farm, in terms of installed capacity, in limbo.

In autumn 2025, the Supreme Court of Norway provided clarifications on the scope of the evidentiary prohibition in the Dispute Act (tvisteloven) Section 22-5, particularly where confidential infor-mation has also been disclosed to third parties.

In one year, a new mineral law will come into force. At present, it remains unclear whether the new law will be beneficial or detrimental to the development and upgrading of renewable energy production.

In a press release dated 8 February 2025, the Ministry of Energy announces that, with effect from 1 July 2025, there will be a new limit for which solar power plants require a licence under the Energy Act. The new limit is 10 MW installed capacity.

In a press release today, NVE announces that licence applications for small hydropower plants will not be considered if there is a lack of documentation showing that the plant can be connected to the electricity grid.

On 9 December 2024, the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Finance presented a proposal for a new scheme for sharing renewable energy within commercial areas. The aim of the scheme is to facili-tate the sharing of locally produced energy within defined commercial zones, thereby providing in-centives for investments in renewable energy production, including solar power on commercial build-ings.

When a claim is not fulfilled voluntarily, the claimant must generally initiate legal proceedings and subsequently enforce the final judgment. Such process can take several years, and in the meantime, the claim may be lost. The rules in the Dispute Act regarding attachment and temporary injunctions provide an opportunity for interim protection of claims, and can be an important tool for those seeking a successful outcome.

As a part of efforts to facilitate a more consumer-friendly electricity market, the government today proposed changes to the Energy Act, the Marketing Act, and the Consumer Purchase Act. The bill, which affects both electricity suppliers and end-users, will now be presented to the Norwegian Parliament, “Stortinget”, for final review.

After lengthy mediation, an agreement was signed on Wednesday, March 6, 2024 between Nord-Fosen siida and Roan Vind DA regarding the wind power plant at Roan. Before Christmas, an agreement was signed between Fosen Vind DA and Sør-Fosen sijte regarding the wind power plant at Storheia. Hjort has assisted Fosen Vind DA and Roan Vind DA in the mediation process.

Recently, a series of interesting initiatives have been introduced with the goal of amplifying renewable energy production from solar power. At Hjort, we are closely monitoring this progressive and promising endeavor.

The dispute over the farm at Storheia on Fosen has now been resolved. After an extensive mediation process between Sør-Fosen sijte, Fosen Vind DA, and with the participation of the state, an agreement has been reached. Hjort, led by lawyer Kristin Bjella, has assisted Fosen Vind in this mediation.

Today, the Supreme Court ruled on the so-called ACER case, where the central question was whether the Constitution was violated when the Norwegian Parliament, in 2018, consented by a simple majority to include the EU's third energy market package in the EEA Agreement. The conclusion of the Supreme Court is that the transfer of authority that took place was of little interference, and therefore, the Parliament did not violate the Constitution's rules.

With record-high electricity prices and low development costs, solar power has become a rapidly growing market over the past year.

On June 14, 2022, a public committee that assessed the development of the power grid presented the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy their Official Report “Grid on time” – on the development of the power grid (NOU 2022: 6). The proposed measures could collectively contribute to a significant boost to the grid development in Norway, by reducing the overall lead time for grid facilities, better utilization of the network, and improve the connection process.

The Norwegian government presented its large-scale plan for the development of offshore wind in Norway.

The Norwegian Government on 11 June 2021 published a White Paper «Putting Energy to Work – Long Term Value Creation from Norwegian energy resources”.

Today, the government presented the parliamentary report "Energy for Work – Long-term Value Creation from Norwegian Energy Resources."

With regards to the presentation of the revised National Budget, the Norwegian government announced their plans concerning the introduction of a moderate production tax on onshore wind power production from 2022.

On Friday, June 12 2020, by royal decree, the areas "Utsira Nord" and "Sørlige Nordsjø II" were opened for offshore renewables, including offshore wind power. This means it will be possible to submit license applications for offshore wind power projects. At the same time the King also adopted a regulation which supplements the Ocean Energy Act and clarifies the licensing process.

Advokatfirmaet Hjort is a member of the Ius Laboris network, a global alliance of leading employment, labour and pension law firms. Working together with our network we have created a Guide for International Employers to assist employers in keeping their employees safe and protect their business as much as possible.

On July 2, the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy issued a proposal for the opening of offshore areas for renewable energy production, along with a proposed regulation on offshore renewable energy production, for public consultation. Below is an overview of the most important updates.